Graphics Practice

Here are some pictures of a Tools of the Mind activity we do every week. It is called Graphics Practice and it gives kids a venue for practicing their pencil grasp, components of letter formation, and self regulation. We use white boards and classical music. I give a quick pretend scenario (today's was that we were at a park and ordering lots of snow cones.) Then I demonstrate how to make the cone shape using private speech. "Down, up, across," is what I'll say aloud to help my dry erase marker form the triangles. We'll go back and add in the snowballs, saying, "Around and close." As soon as the kids hear the music, they can use their private speech and start drawing the shapes on their own boards. If I pause the music, they have to stop drawing. Look at what we are asking the kids to do -- the fine motor work as well as a self inhibitory step. Holding more than one thing in your brain at the same time is tricky and a vital component to self regulation (a major goal in our program). We get a lot of bang for the buck from this 10 minute activity, and your kids can do it nicely.